


A Chance Encounter and a Confused Barista

by Kitsune_XIII



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Coffeeshop AU, Fluff, M/M, Soulmates AU, panic writing, this was fun but I rushed it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 05:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11799024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsune_XIII/pseuds/Kitsune_XIII
Summary: AkuRoku Day 2017 celebration posted ten minutes late.Roxas works in a coffee shop, Axel is a university student 2 years into his degree with no clue what his major will be. Soulmates AU. Written in an hour and a half and might become multipart because I'm actually attached to this setting now and I've missed writing these boys.





	A Chance Encounter and a Confused Barista

There were days where Roxas really hated his job. The last four days for example. He closed the blender lid and pressed start, resisting the urge to turn around and ‘accidentally’ slip on the clearly marked wet spot on the floor in hopes of being sent home for hurting his tailbone on the job. At least he was the barista today instead of working the register. It made life so much easier when all he had to say to customers was the name of, or on, their drink. No false alarms, no near misses. Just hope the customers took their drink and left quickly so he could clean everything and people watch. The blender beeped, announcing that the customer’s drink was finished blending, so he turned back around to dish it into a cup, frowning at the horrific blues and pinks that gave him cavities just from looking at them. Why the customer--Pence’s memo’s marked their name as ‘Axel’--had ordered something like this he really had no idea. Probably for the discount they were offering for taking a selfie with the drink and tagging it with their company’s name on GraphiQuick. Stupid marketing ploy, and considering that one of the two drinks offered for this tasted roughly like sugar infused mustard and death he really doubted it would work. At least the twilight unicorn blitz was tasted like fruit and not mustard and sugar.

Roxas moved automatically through the topping of the drink. He’d been working at the Twilight Timberwolves Cafe for years now, topping the frappucinos was as easy as breathing. He huffed a sigh as he capped the frozen concoction of cotton-candy colored death and called it out. “Axel your dawn confetti blast is ready!”  
A few heads lifted, bookish eyes trying to locate the short blond behind the bar. It was from the register though that Roxas heard any sort of response. And saw. A beanpole of a man was bracing himself over the counter with one hand and craning his head and neck to see the menu screen, eyes like acid narrowed in confusion. Pence stammered an apology, color draining from his face as Roxas watched--he froze in place, breath catching in his throat as the beanpole scowled at the display. Roxas couldn’t move to reach the screen to clear it, to avoid the inevitable false alarm. Pence had made this mistake at _least_ four times today alone he couldn’t handle it again, he needed to clear it to hide the error but he couldn’t move and--

“Yeah mine was the twilight unicorn blitz, not the dawn confetti blast, thanks.” the beanpole drawled, straightening his spine and stretching his neck back so his wild mane of crimson spikes rested against his shoulders for a moment. Roxas’s heart sputtered to an abrupt stop at his words though, and he groaned in frustration even as Pence started to stammer apologies and scamper from the register to fix the mistake himself and make their precious customer the right drink.  
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…” Roxas couldn’t help the whine and he forced himself to move, stepping away from the blenders and to the espresso machines and the drink screen.  
He was almost fast enough in ducking his head to miss the way ‘Axel’s’ eyes widened and he snapped his head around fast enough that Roxas was almost concerned he’d give himself whiplash and _stared_ at him. Almost. Instead he caught the abrupt shift and froze on the spot, squeaking an apology for the curse. But ‘Axel’ didn’t seem to hear it, and there was something hopeful about the way he investigated Roxas’s face. He felt very much like he was stuck under the microscope as Axel searched. A curious look at his snakebites and the brow piercings. Another at the industrial piercing in his left ear and trio of studs in his right.

He could think of only one thing that could’ve prompted that, but he didn’t dare hope. Sure, ‘Axel’ had said the right thing, but he expected more than just the feeling of resignation to false alarms if it was the right person saying it.  
But no, ‘Axel’ was staring at him like he was some sort of coveted holy grail, and his face split into a wide grin that was all teeth and sharp angles and oh gods Roxas wasn’t sure if he wanted to die of embarrassment or melt from the honestly _adoring _look the redhead was giving him.__

The blender whirred behind him and Pence bumped his shoulder, shuffling over to the bakery section. “H-here, sorry for the mistake uhh… I wanna give you a complimentary cookie in apology--i-if that’s alright!”  
It wasn’t, Pence didn’t have the seniority or permissions in the computer system to offer that. Thankfully, ‘Axel’ only shook his head.  
“Nah, thanks for the offer. How’s this dawn confetti stuff taste?” 

“Like death, you don’t want it.” Roxas spoke quickly, shaking his head. “Especially not from our mistake, I’m sorry, I should’ve been listening to what you were ordering, not just looking at the screen.” the blender binged and he turned. “That’ll be your actual drink, I’m so sorry for the mix-up, is there anything we can offer you?”  
Mercifully, though Roxas could feel Axel’s eyes on him as he darted back to the blender to finish the job Pence had abandoned, Axel did _not_ ask for a date. Okay, so not an asshole customer. Maybe just… not into men. ...Considering Axel’s reaction to Roxas he really hoped that one wasn’t the case. It would certainly make things _awkward_ at least. He shook his head and focused on the drink. The twilight unicorn blitz was pretty good actually, a mango and pomegranate thing that when it settled looked like a sunset in a cup. Topped with whipped cream and the limited time pineapple drizzle it was actually palatable.  
He eased the frozen blend into a cup--the size upgraded, he noticed, gods _damn it_ , Pence--and topped it as Axel stepped away from the register finally to the delivery stand. Axel thanked him, still grinning at him, and Roxas offered a nervous smile in reply. If Axel ever answered Roxas’s question, he hadn’t heard, and Axel didn’t seem to mind. 

__

But maybe that had something to do with the beanpole taking his drink and immediately flopping into one of the leather arm chairs in the corner where a bookstore’s worth of college reading had been set-up. Oh. So he was in school? Better than Roxas… No, no time to think about that. He had an hour and a half left of his shift. And he needed to focus in case Pence made this mistake again. 

__====_ _

__Thankfully the last hour and a half of his shift went smoothly, and his replacement was more than happy to ring up what he’d used his shift drink on. Sora beamed at him from the register, looking for all the world like he _belonged_ there.  
Drink dealt with, Roxas turned to leave, and glanced at the corner where Axel was still studying, pen between his teeth, where he wiggled it with a subtle shift of his jaw in concentration. He’d ordered three more drinks before Roxas’s shift had ended (a black coffee, another twilight unicorn blitz, and a hazelnut and mint mocha concoction that Roxas couldn’t imagine even halfway decent) as well as three sandwiches._ _

___He had been perfectly courteous of Roxas in that time, despite everything racing through Roxas’s head and his suspicions. Curiosity burned in his chest, and… he had to know. So he took a deep breath and walked over. Axel’s eyes snapped up to meet his immediately, and that easy grin split his face once more. “Hey there, Sunshine. Shift over?” the words were almost a purr, and he leaned back into the chair like he owned it, lifting his arms behind his head. Everything about him screamed confidence and a predatory feline grace. He was all limbs, and now that he was done working Roxas could take a moment to appreciate the stranger. All limbs, wearing a red tank top, a black sweater tied around his waist, and distressed black jeans that clung to his legs like a second skin. Thin as a rail but his arms were covered in tattoo sleeves--the right drawing Roxas’s eye to a series of words in what he immediately recognized as his own chicken scratch handwriting. You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me._  
Axel seemed to be following his eyes, and his grin somehow split even wider.  
“Can I see yours?” he asked, tone light and conversational, and Roxas found himself laughing. Light and rich and giddy. It wasn’t a false alarm. He’d finally, _finally_ found what he’d taken this job for. Sunshine. Axel had called him ‘Sunshine’. He tore his gaze from the words on Axel’s right arm and grinned right back. 

__“I have a better idea. Do you like ice cream?” And from the way Axel’s eyes lit up, he knew, just knew, that Axel was just as excited to have found him as he was to have found Axel._ _


End file.
